Ranches and land are hotter than ever — and not just as places to get away for a weekend.

Each Friday, Robbie Briggs, CEO of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty, writes about luxury, trends, business and more in the advertising pages of the Mansion section of The Wall Street Journal. Below is his letter of May 13, 2022.

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE

Ranches couldn’t be hotter.

Some statistics to back that up? Ranch sales in Texas nearly doubled between the second quarter of 2021 and the previous year, according to the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. Prices are up, too, says the [...]

Bubbling up in the U.S. in the 1930s, Ranch homes grew in popularity with the postwar middle class. Characterized by single-story layouts, low-pitched rooflines and open floor plans, Ranch homes continue to be in demand with buyers of all ages. In recent years, Ranch homes have made a comeback because of their simple aesthetics, connection to the outdoors and place in America’s architectural [...]

Each Friday, Robbie Briggs, president and CEO of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty, writes about luxury, trends, business and more in the advertising pages of the Mansion section of The Wall Street Journal. Below is his letter of October 30, 2020.

Ranches and land have taken on deeper meanings as of late.

We’ve always known about their transformative power to calm and center us — to remind us that the world is bigger than us, no matter how gargantuan our own pressures and anxieties can feel [...]